Monday, February 20, 2012

1995 Phillies - The Missing Links

This little project of mine really picked up some speed with the rogue's gallery that made up the 1995 Phillies team. There were 50 players who appeared at some point with the 1995 Phillies, so it's only natural that some of them would never be represented on cardboard as Phillies. Couple the large number of players with decreased baseball card production in 1995, and there are quite a few missing links.

Springer was actually a key contributor to the 1996 squad, but as a middle reliever he was among the first to get cut by the card companies when it came to player selection. Gallagher wrapped up his 9-year career with a decent season with the Phillies. He hit .318 as the team's fourth outfielder. Harris was shipped to the Orioles in June for Andy Van Slyke. By the time his Fleer Update card was released, he was already an ex-Phillie.

If you remember Elster and Deshaies playing with the Phillies, than you are truly a die-hard Phillies fan. Elster came to the Phillies in July after bouncing from the Yankees and Royals organizations in June. The Beckett database shows that Elster didn't appear on one single baseball card in 1994 or 1995, and by the time he was featured on a few 1996 cards he was already with the Rangers.

The only thing I remember about Olivares' stay with the Phillies is that he wore #00. Ricci actually won a game with the Phillies, and the only Phillies-related card I have of him doesn't even feature a photo of the guy. Dennis Springer (no relation to Russ) started his 8-year career with 4 games with the 1995 Phillies. His claim to fame is that he gave up Barry Bonds' 73rd home run back in 2001. He's featured in the same all-painting minor league set as Ricci.

Deshaies caught on with the Phillies in a last-ditch effort to keep his career going after 11 seasons spent mostly with the Astros. He started two games with the club in late July, going 0-1 with a 20.25 ERA in 5 1/3 innings. He was released on July 31st.

So there were five Phillies from the 1995 season who never appeared on a Phillies baseball card. I have a feeling that number is about to jump once we hit the dark days of 1996, 1997 and 1998.